APA – Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) – On Thursday, July 20, 2023, in Abidjan, the Ministry of Water and Forests signed a protocol with the Leiff and Aets Afrique consortium, with a view to carrying out a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of classified forests.
The protocol, initialed by Laurent Tchagba, the Ivorian minister responsible for the project, and the consortium, should enable the restoration of the Fengolo (12,000 ha, northern Cote d’Ivoire) and
Yani (10,675 ha) classified forests, with a view to generating carbon credits.
The project is scheduled to run for one year. The preliminary study reveals that these two classified forests include hills, average infiltration, the presence of cashew plantations, cattle ranching and
forest relics.
According to the protocol, the Ministry is “obliged” to ensure operational monitoring of the activities of the LEIFF-AETS AF Consortium through the ‘Societe de Developpement des Forets (Forest Development Company, SODEFOR), and to validate the study specifications proposed by the consortium.
In addition, the Ministry of Water and Forests is to “make available to the LEIFF-AETS AF consortium, within the framework of a specific agreement, the classified forest(s) selected in the event that the
results of the feasibility study make it possible to create a carbon sink.”
This should facilitate negotiations between the parties with a view to signing one or more Concession Agreements should the results of the feasibility study prove conclusive, the protocol emphasizes.
For its part, the LEIFF – AETS AF consortium has undertaken to draw up the study specifications and have them validated by the ministry no later than two months after the signing of the protocol, and to carry
out the feasibility study in accordance with the specifications.
AETS Afrique is an Ivorian technical platform dedicated to low-carbon transition and specializing in forest management. LEIFF is a British investment fund dedicated to nature-based solutions, carbon credit and
environmental sustainability.
Olivier Kergall, Africa Director of AETS, pointed out that the project includes a community component as well as agroforestry and conservation actions. The project also aims to create jobs in rural areas.
William Turner, representing LEIFF, said that since 2021, a holistic model is being developed, taking into account agro-forestry-pastoral and socio-economic aspects, with a view to creating jobs in rural
areas.
This project is designed to support the Ivorian government’s objectives. For him, “they must be achieved before 2030,” in line with the country’s agenda, which insists that “reforestation is essential for human and animal life, the planet and the environment,” in line with the ONE Health concept.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” confided Laurent Tchagba, whose ambition was to have the support of AETS AF and its experience in this project. He was delighted that the preliminary studies had been well
carried out, leading to the signing of the memorandum of understanding.
Laurent Tchagba pointed out that Cote d’Ivoire, which at the time had a capacity of 16 million hectares of forest, now has less than three million ha. To achieve this, the country has set up a system that should enable it to restore its forest cover to 6.5 million ha by 2030.
The government, he continued, has drawn up a plan to call on the private sector to contribute to the fight against deforestation, and above all to implement management plans to enable Cote d’Ivoire to
regain its forest cover.
The government has identified 86 classified forests with a view to rehabilitating them. Laurent Tchagba explains that the proposed scheme is based on two strategies: carbon sequestration and agroforestry.
Côte d’Ivoire has lost over 90 percent of its forest cover. According to the latest forest inventory, the country has 9.2 percent forest.
Ivorian government policy aims to increase forest cover to 20 percent by 2030, with the planting of three million hectares of forest.
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